Ethiopia's Power Resource Potential Being Given a Project Jolt

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The Ethiopian electricity grid, which is in urgent need of rehabilitation due to lack of back maintenance, has been granted a further $27 million by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's long-term financing institution. The loan, made from risk capital resources, is for the financing of improvement measures to urban power distribution in eight Ethiopian cities. This project is part of a larger, $200 million, project financed with the World Bank and IDA. The borrower is the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which lend on to the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO).

The current project concerns supply as well as maintenance aspects of the existing power supply system. It aims to improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply and extend supply to new customers. More reliable and extended electricity supple will provide the basic utility for the growth of business and encourage economic development in the chronically poverty stricken country.

EELPA (Ethiopian electric light and power authority) is responsible for electricity generation and supply in Ethiopia and operated an interconnected transmission grid centering on the capital, Addis Ababa. A subsidiary the Eritrea Region electric supply association operates isolated power generating facilities.

Ethiopia has significant oil and gas reserves and has not yet exhausted its economic hydropower potential. At the end of 2001 the country had 456 MW of installed generating capacity with 83% coming from hydro sources. Repair and maintenance work has added 25% to capacity.

EEPCO expects to have Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric facility online by mid 2003. On the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia, this plant will have generating capacity of 184 MW. EEPCO also plans to build a 300 MW plant at Tekeze. Germany's Lahmeyer has conducted feasibility studies on three plants with a total planned output of 1,005 MW. If all proposed hydro generating plants to be built by Italy's Enerco make it to construction they would add another 500-600 MW to the country's capacity. The independent 150 MW Gojeb project will sell power to EEPCO once it has overcome delays in execution. Two coal-powered stations will add 115 MW to the national power output.

EEPCO is planning to invest $238 million into 50 projects nationwide over the current development period. These projects include transmission, generation, distribution and substation projects.

All the project plans above, if realized, will fundamentally alter Ethiopia's power profile and will make effective in 2004, agreements signed in 2001 for the expert of electricity to Djibouti and Sudan following the interconnection of the countries electricity grids.